Inaugural tulip festival in Upper Onslow, N.S., a blooming success

Dozens of people took part in the festival. (CTV/Jonathan MacInnis)

The first ever tulip festival at RiverBreeze Farms in Upper Onslow, N.S., will soon be kicking off, and the owners of the farm are already calling the festival a success.

Gillian Lorraine says the idea was hatched around the dinner table.

“I can’t remember who brought up tulips, but as soon as it was brought up, we were like “we should do this, that’s a great idea,” says Lorraine.

She quickly started researching what varieties grow best in the area. An order for 200,000 bulbs was made with Vanco Farms in Prince Edward Island.

“Obviously, my father didn’t pick them out, I took that job on because I love flowers and so I planned all the different colours we’d get, the different varieties, and mixes,” she said.

That led to the first ever tulip festival at the farm just outside of Truro. This weekend is what Jim Lorraine is calling a ‘soft open’ because the flowers are still about a week away from putting on a full display.

“We basically, on social media, told everybody to stay away until next weekend,” he says. “We’re about 15 per cent in bloom.”

Still, with a long weekend of sunshine, flower lovers showed up by the hundreds on both Saturday and Sunday.

“We walked around and took a bunch of photos at the photo ops, there’s some great places to take photos. It’s beautiful, a lot of kids and families here,” says Abdullah Alkhattab. “This is the best time they could’ve started it especially with the weather we have yesterday and today. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

“I love flowers, so it’s always nice to have fresh flowers on your table and why not pick them yourself,” adds Amber Ferguson.

Jim admits the response far exceeded the family’s expectations and plans are already in the works to plant more than a half-a-million bulbs in their fields for what will be the second annual RiverBreeze Tulip Festival.

Click here for a photo gallery of the RiverBreeze Tulip Festival.

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